Our Rating

9

For her third album as the Mynabirds, songwriter Laura Burhenn has created another impressive collection of songs, making Lovers Knows her most accessible record yet.

Recorded over the course of a year after touring steadily as a member of the Postal Service and then embarking on a solo trip to South Africa and Europe before ultimately moving from Omaha and settling in Los Angeles, the songs on Lovers Know are the result of heavy introspection and delivered as a perfect blend of indie-pop brushed with the retro sound of the 80s, thanks to Burhenn’s Casio keyboard.

While the Mynabirds’ first two albums, 2010’s What We Lose In the Fire We Gain in the Flood and 2012’s Generals, were both artistically successful in their own right, Lovers Knows feels as though it’s a much more intimate affair on Burhenn’s part. It’s an album full of realizations and questions on love and devotion–immediately evident through songs like the album’s beautiful opener, ‘All My Heart,’ whose repeated mantra of “when I love, I love with all my heart” seems to be the appropriate thesis for the entire record.

Highlights certainly abound and include uptempo numbers like ‘Semantics’ and ‘Wildfire,’ but the most affecting songs are the album’s softer moments. ‘Velveteen’ for example, is a lush, swaying gem that leaves a lasting effect long after it concludes. The same can be said for ‘Hanged Man,’ another mood-setting masterpiece.